Summer Upgrades

T

torzak

Famous
Joined
Jul 1, 2009
Messages
487
Hey everyone. Well its almost summer and for me that means time to upgrade my computer. Im wanting to upgrade the CPU, Motherboard, RAM, and Case, and maybe GPU if I have the money. Heres my current setup:
Processor: AMD Phenom 8650 Triple core @ 2.8GHz
Memory: 4GB DDR2 800mhz
Power Supply: HEC X- Power Pro 600W
Case: Old HP case
Hard Drive: 2x 250GB RAID0 and a 500GB external
Video Card: PNY Nvidia 9800gt 512mb
Monitor: LG Flatron 21"
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Im thinking about going Intel for this build. AMD is cheaper but I like the benchmarks ive seen on the I5's. My budget is going to be about $600, before shipping. I put together a possible set of parts on newegg, one Intel based and one AMD. Here they are:

ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $139
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131404

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058

Total: $570

AMD

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO/U3S6 AM3 AMD 785G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131627

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058

PNY XLR8 VCG98GTEE1XEB GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133304

Total: $604

I already have 1 PNY 9800gt so if i got AMD I would get another and do SLI.

Any comments would be great.

Peace
 
1. The Phenom 1055T will kick the i7 750's ass (6 cores>4)

2. If you go amd, i would get this board, because it supports SLI:
MSI NF750-G55

3. 902 is not a good case for the price, i would get either a:
CM Storm Scout

or a

HAF 922


4. Get an after-market heatsink (i seem to remember you having a TX3)

if not you can get a Cooler Master 212+


purely suggestions, either way, it will be faster than Phenom I (ugh that was a bad generation)
 
reflex99 said:
1. The Phenom 1055T will kick the i7 750's ass (6 cores>4)

2. If you go amd, i would get this board, because it supports SLI:
MSI NF750-G55

3. 902 is not a good case for the price, i would get either a:
CM Storm Scout

or a

HAF 922


4. Get an after-market heatsink (i seem to remember you having a TX3)

if not you can get a Cooler Master 212+


purely suggestions, either way, it will be faster than Phenom I (ugh that was a bad generation)
Click to expand...

Nice motherboard but I like Asus better then MSI. I do have a aftermarket heatsink right now its a copy of the TX3 made my rocketfish. It keeps my overclocked CPU at 40C idle and 53C max load, in my 27C case.
 
If I had the same setup, I would get a better video card and power supply with that $600.......

That is, if it were for a gaming system.

I don't know of many games except a very few that supports 2 CPUs and none support more than 2.

More than 2 Cores sounds like a waste to me and you can always use more video power, but, that is just my 2 cents.......

I still haven't figured out why everyone is so hyped about more than 2 CPUs/Cores for game systems..... except for the marketing from Intel and AMD to sell more chips..... I do have a quad core, but, it is my audio/video processing system, it does matters with that.
 
Considered any of the Gigabyte boards? I can't say anything but good things about em.
Asus would be my second choice. =]
 
Ill look at some of those brands today, see what I find. One question, if I went with the AMD build would I be able to get a more powerful 9800gt of a diffrent brand and still do SLI? Right now I have this one. Its PNY 512mb Clocks are 550/1375/1800. Would I be able to get the newer PNY version of this card that I posted above or would I have to fimd the same model card to do SLI? I was hoping to be able to get a card like This one.
 
Ok guys, What do you guys think of this build?

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO/U3S6 AM3 AMD 785G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131627

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

CM Storm Scout $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9196&cm_re=storm_scout-_-11-119-196-_-Product

Total: $609

Is this a good AMD build if I just kept my 9800gt that I have now?
 
torzak said:
Ok guys, What do you guys think of this build?

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO/U3S6 AM3 AMD 785G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131627

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

CM Storm Scout $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9196&cm_re=storm_scout-_-11-119-196-_-Product

Total: $609

Is this a good AMD build if I just kept my 9800gt that I have now?
Click to expand...

That looks like a very nice build bro. A 2nd 9800gt is debatable depending on what it is you're playing and planning to play in the not so distant future.

Just for an Alternative suggestion, how about this:

AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704
(This pretty much gets you about 90% of the Performance of a Phenom II that sports L3 Cache and I hear it can be OC'd up to at least 3.3-3.5GHz on stock cooler and voltages)

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO/U3S6 AM3 AMD 785G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131627
(B/c that mobo already looks great)

2 Packs of G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (For a Total of 8 GB) $238
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231278

CM Storm Scout $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9196&cm_re=storm_scout-_-11-119-196-_-Product

Total: $537.97


Keep in mind that AMD's 32nm Bulldozer CPUs are coming out next year in both quad and Octo-cores. This will easily tide you over until then when you can fully futureproof your rig.

Either way just my 0.02$
 
Last edited:
Orange_Kun!!! said:
That looks like a very nice build bro. A 2nd 9800gt is debatable depending on what it is you're playing and planning to play in the not so distant future.

Just for an Alternative suggestion, how about this:

AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704
(This pretty much gets you about 90% of the Performance of a Phenom II that sports L3 Cache and I hear it can be OC'd up to at least 3.3-3.5GHz on stock cooler and voltages)

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO/U3S6 AM3 AMD 785G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131627
(B/c that mobo already looks great)

2 Packs of G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (For a Total of 8 GB) $238
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231278

CM Storm Scout $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9196&cm_re=storm_scout-_-11-119-196-_-Product

Total: $537.97


Keep in mind that AMD's 32nm Bulldozer CPUs are coming out next year in both quad and Octo-cores. This will easily tide you over until then when you can fully futureproof your rig.

Either way just my 0.02$
Click to expand...

I like that build. I think i would probably get another 9800gt instead of 8GB of ram though if I got that cpu. I don't really need 8GB of ram, I have 4Gb right now of DDR2 800Mhz and its plenty fast enough, 4GB of DDR3 1600 should be enough for me.

Im mostly planning on playing BFBC2, Portal 2, Call of Duty MW2, and Crysis 2, and probably COD black ops when it comes out.

Oh and playing BFBC2 i get between 25-50fps on high settings 1600x900 CPU@ 2.64GHz RAM@960MHz and my GPU overlcoked to 600/1600/2000 And my max temp on CPU was 54C and GPU was 79C O.o
 
go with a quad core, saves you some money and nothing really even uses the full potential of a dual core yet! you dont really need a 6 core, or if your looking at long term, then go ahead. but if not, amd 965 quad core. i recently built my rig (look at sig) and that thing is a monster already. i was thinking about switching to 6 cores, but really just pointless.

and also, GET A NEW CPU COOLER!!!!!

do not use the stock, that thing is loud as hell. i thought it was my 6 fans that causing the noise, but i had a after market fan i bought but never got to use lying around and about 95% of the noise was gone after i installed it.

just saying if you werent planning on getting one :3
 
Quad will help in the games you listed.

NOTE: You can NOT use SLI on the board that Orange listed, I would still recommend the board that i suggested.


EDIT: Fatty, My mom has a Q6600 quad core (roughly equal to the 965, maybe a little slower), and the difference the extra 2 cores makes is very notice able.

Don't think of it as 6 cores, think of it as 4+2, 4 are used for the app you are currently in, while the other 2 run background stuff like anti-virus, encoding, vent, etc.
 
Last edited:
reflex99 said:
Quad will help in the games you listed.

NOTE: You can NOT use SLI on the board that Orange listed, I would still recommend the board that i suggested.


EDIT: Fatty, My mom has a Q6600 quad core (roughly equal to the 965, maybe a little slower), and the difference the extra 2 cores makes is very notice able.

Don't think of it as 6 cores, think of it as 4+2, 4 are used for the app you are currently in, while the other 2 run background stuff like anti-virus, encoding, vent, etc.
Click to expand...

You can use multiple GPUs on the board, tho I wouldn't recommend it with it running at 16x and 4x; but again I wasn't advocating SLI in the first place. That board was the one he originally had amongst his choices so I stuck w/ it because it is a very nice board for non-sli setups.

If he were to go SLI, then yes I agree w/ you. If you want SLI but SATA 6/USB 3.0 as well, I would suggest this Gigabyte board then: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128435
It's about 17$ more but it gets you SLI at x8 spds plus the new SATA and USB tech.

Honestly I would suggest moving to 8 gigs of RAM and perhaps utilizing another 9800gt in SLI down the road since they're already cheap. That extra RAM will work wonders for you performance-wise when running those games you listed.

Never underestimate the power of Crysis 2! XD
 
He said:
I like that build. I think i would probably get another 9800gt instead of 8GB of ram though if I got that cpu. I don't really need 8GB of ram
Click to expand...

So if he used your build, it would not work.

4gb is plenty, maybe 6 if you feel like it.
 
reflex99 said:
He said:


So if he used your build, it would not work.

4gb is plenty, maybe 6 if you feel like it.
Click to expand...

Now I have no idea what you're talking about bro. The ASUS board is capable but I wasn't recommending it based on using it for SLI. Either way, that's not the point. I'm not trying to get into a mine is better, no mine is better contest.
I'm merely giving suggestions to him on how to get all that he wants at the best possible price point.

I saw your point and agreed that if he were to want SLI, then that board would not be for him and then I pointed him to the Gigabyte b/c it previously looked as though he wanted SATA 6 and USB 3.0 as well as SLI capability that runs at dual x8 speeds.

Also, 4GB is fine, but then again 2GB used to plenty too. 8GB will only help him but the choice is ultimately up to him, not you or I. Either way, SLI or extra RAM or whatever, he's the one that won't be wrong and his comp is still gonna be beastly.
 
torzak said:
I like that build. I think i would probably get another 9800gt instead of 8GB of ram though if I got that cpu. I don't really need 8GB of ram, I have 4Gb right now of DDR2 800Mhz and its plenty fast enough, 4GB of DDR3 1600 should be enough for me.

Im mostly planning on playing BFBC2, Portal 2, Call of Duty MW2, and Crysis 2, and probably COD black ops when it comes out.

Oh and playing BFBC2 i get between 25-50fps on high settings 1600x900 CPU@ 2.64GHz RAM@960MHz and my GPU overlcoked to 600/1600/2000 And my max temp on CPU was 54C and GPU was 79C O.o
Click to expand...

Well, if you don't wish to go the RAM route, you could possibly look at replacing the 9800gt to help out w/ BFBC2

Here's a MSI R5770 Hawk Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5: $187
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127490

or a MSI N260GTX Twin Frozr OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3: $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127464

Kinda maxes out teh budget, but it's quite a step up from the 9800gt.
 
Torzak, do you have a Microcenter near home ? You could build an i7 machine if you did. Check out there website. Sorry Newegg.
 
dbee said:
Torzak, do you have a Microcenter near home ? You could build an i7 machine if you did. Check out there website. Sorry Newegg.
Click to expand...

Yes, kinda, theres one about 45mins to an hour away. Does the I7 930 require triple channel or dual channel memory?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top